The poll of 651 likely voters, which was conducted May 25-31, shows Brown with a thin lead over Warren, 39 percent to 37 percent.  That's well within the survey's margin of error of 3.8 percent and further confirmation that, despite the controversy that has dogged Warren's campaign as of late, the Massachusetts Senate race remains one of the most competitive in the country.  

The TPM Poll Average currently shows Brown with a narrow lead over Warren.

According to the poll, Obama garners the support of 49-percent of voters while Romney trails with 46-percent support.  The poll, which was conducted May 29-31, included a sample of 895 registered voters.  It has a margin of error of 3.5 percent.

The TPM Poll Average currently shows Obama nursing a very small lead over Romney.

That’s almost three times as many as the 68,000 absentee ballots tracked in the Statewide Voter Registration System for the May 8 recall primary, which saw about 29.5 percent turnout overall.

The true number of absentee voters could be even higher, since the GAO’s number is based only on information from those local election officials who track the data in the SVRS. Only about one-third of municipalities track absentee ballots in the system, the GAB noted, though the total does include all the state’s large cities.

The GAB has predicted that turnout in the recall on June 5 could reach between 60 to 65 percent, which would place it on par with a presidential election.

"I believe that If we're successful in this election, when we're successful in this election, that the fever may break, because there's a tradition in the Republican Party of more common sense than that," Obama said. "My hope, my expectation, is that after the election, now that it turns out that the goal of beating Obama doesn't make much sense because I'm not running again, that we can start getting some cooperation again."

Among the issues he said might benefit from an increased willingness to negotiate: deficit reduction, infrastructure improvements, and immigration reform.

"My expectation is that if we can break this fever, that we can invest in clean energy and energy efficiency because that's not a partisan issue," he said. 

While African-Americans only comprised 11-percent of the poll's total sample of 602 voters, that still marks a decided shift since PPP's survey in January, when black voters in Missouri opposed same-sex marriage, 25-44 percent.  

Fargo Forum' Kristen Daum reports Rep. Rick Berg (R) -- who's squaring off against Duane Sand in the June 23 primary -- raised $443,300 between April 1 and May 23. Heitkamp raised 497,000. The breakdown:

According to the summary pages of Heitkamp’s latest report, she collected $393,400 in total contributions between April 1 and May 23.

Of that, 80 percent – or $316,700 – came from individual donors. Political action committees and special-interest groups donated $76,300, or 20 percent of her latest haul.

In addition to those contributions, Heitkamp’s campaign also received $102,800 in transfers from authorized committees, which represent her collaborative fundraising efforts with other Senate candidates and key Senate Democrats.

Heitkamp has $759,000 on hand to spend in the battle against the eventual Republican nominee. 

Charged with second degree murder in the killing, Zimmerman was set free on bond in April.

"A stagnant economy is undesirable, a shrinking economy is absolutely unacceptable and the Washington politicians should be working around-the-clock to resolve this economic turmoil," Smith said in statement. "I am disappointed the Obama-Casey agenda has placed our economy on the backburner, after their so-called $1 trillion taxpayer-funded 'stimulus' failed to keep the unemployment rate below 8 percent as promised. It is time Congress get serious about rolling back the job-killing regulations that have continued to stifle our recovery and stop their out-of-control spending habit."

"We've got responsibilities that are bigger than an election," Obama said at a factory in Minnesota. "We've got responsibilities to you. So my message to Congress is now is not the time to play politics. Now is not the time to sit on your hands. The American people expect their leaders to work hard no matter what year it is. The economy still isn't where it needs to be."

The newspaper's Twitter account dedicated to covering the case posted this message on Friday afternoon:

Breaking: As media hearing set to begin, state has filed a motion to revoke #GeorgeZImmerman's bond. Working on details. #TrayvonMartin.

— OSTrayvonMartin (@OSTrayvonMartin) June 1, 2012

"I don't think were looking for more, a QE3, if you will," he said. "I don't think that will have any more impact than QE2 did."

"I disagree with him, there's no question that the president was born in the United States of America," Romney said. "I dont go around telling all my supporters what they should think or what they should say."

Schriock's statement:

"The threats made against Democratic women Senators yesterday night by Tea Party Republican spokesperson Jay Townsend are without a doubt the most disgusting thing I have ever heard in politics. There is no place - not in our government, not anywhere in the world - for the suggestion that women we disagree with should be attacked and maimed with acid. The EMILY's List community is outraged, and I am outraged. The fact that this person continues to have a job is an insult to women everywhere. Republicans pretend they aren't waging a war on women, but their inaction today is absolutely chilling.”

More from CNN:

Police have reason to believe Magnotta might have gone to eastern Europe, given his Russian pseudonym and writings on his Web page. Lafreniere said there was a possibility he might have re-entered Canada under another name. He said Magnotta is good at disguising himself.

"I don't believe you outsource your principles and convictions to people," Bush said. "I respect Grover's political involvement. He has it every right to do it, but I never signed any pledge."

May’s employment report shows the economy continues to confront strong headwinds. The addition of a mere 65,000 jobs last month and a small uptick in the unemployment rate is alarming and unacceptable.

 

Most frustrating is the fact that it is not the means for recovery that lack, but rather the will. For purely political and cynical reasons, Republicans in Congress have blocked President Obama’s efforts to maintain momentum for growth, whether it’s the American Jobs Act or routine highway infrastructure investments. Moreover, under the leadership of Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and John Boehner, Republicans are also looking to cut back on policies that provide relief for the millions of working families worrying about how to pay the bills and how to make ends meet.

 

The employment report’s hint of a renewed slowdown also tells a deeper story. Not only did the financial crash of 2008 trigger the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, it also showed that the economic model we have been following for thirty years has profound flaws.

 

We need continued expansionary policy to keep the economy moving forward, but the President and Congress must also push deeper changes and reforms if recovery is ever to generate shared prosperity. That means policies which reconnect wages to productivity growth, strengthen manufacturing, and correct the trade deficit, particularly with China.